The Chicago-based Richard H. Driehaus Foundation today announced that Lori Dimun, current President & CEO of the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, will join the Foundation as its Senior Program Director, Arts and Culture this summer. The role was formerly filled by JC Aevaliotis, who departed in September 2025.
With assets now exceeding $450 million, the Driehaus Foundation is among Chicago’s largest philanthropic organizations. Building on the philanthropic vision of founder Richard H. Driehaus, the Foundation is committed to enriching the lives of all Chicagoans by improving the built environment, cultivating a robust and diverse arts and culture ecosystem, and supporting investigative journalism that fosters transparency, accountability, and effective government.
“I am delighted to welcome Lori Dimun to the Driehaus Foundation. Lori brings an extraordinary depth of knowledge of Chicago’s arts ecosystem, a deep passion for the sector, and a long-standing commitment to strengthening the organizations that make our creative communities thrive. Her experience, relationships, and nuanced understanding of Chicago’s cultural landscape will amplify our arts and culture grantmaking and deepen our impact across the city, strengthening partnerships and advancing work that is both meaningful and lasting,” said Driehaus Foundation President and Executive Director Lynn Osmond.
Added Dimun, “I am pleased to join the Driehaus Foundation as Senior Program Director, Arts and Culture, a shift in vantage point for me, and a deliberate one, to support an organization that invests in the business of the arts—the infrastructure and capacity that allow creative groups to do their best work. Everything I have learned from the Harris community, including the realities of sustaining a nonprofit arts organization, the complexity of reaching and serving audiences, and the urgency of this moment for our sector, I carry with me, along with deep empathy for what these organizations face every day. I am excited to work alongside the Driehaus Foundation team to help strengthen the conditions that enable Chicago's cultural ecosystem to flourish, innovate, and remain a vital force in the life of this city.”
As Driehaus Foundation Senior Program Director, Arts and Culture, Dimun will provide grantmaking expertise and leadership; manage budget planning, oversight, and reporting; develop, manage, and evaluate philanthropic investments; and represent the Foundation and its Directors to existing and prospective grant recipients and other external stakeholders. She will play a key role in identifying, developing, supporting, and evaluating potential grant recipients, partners, and funding opportunities, and communicating potential grants and their impact to the Directors and to the broader field. As Senior Program Director, Dimun will also lead and manage Program Officers assigned to the Arts and Culture portfolio.
Lori Dimun is a highly respected arts executive with a 20+ year career dedicated to sustaining and advancing the vitality of Chicago’s arts community via roles at two of Chicago’s top nonprofit arts institutions, the Harris Theater for Music and Dance and Steppenwolf Theatre Company. As President & CEO of the Harris Theater, Dimun provides overall strategic, artistic, and operational leadership, including programmatic vision, financial sustainability, board engagement, and donor cultivation. Her 15-year tenure at the venue included key positions as Vice President of Operations & Production & General Manager, and Chief Operating Officer, before named to her current role in 2020. Prior to the Harris, Dimun led all aspects of event management across the development, programming and marketing departments at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, rising through the ranks from Apprentice to Director of Events Management from 2004-2011. She holds a Master of Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Theater and Global Studies from Drury University, completed the Civic Leadership Academy Fellowship at the University of Chicago's Center for Effective Government (2019), and is a 2024 graduate of Harvard Business School's Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management program.
Dimun, her husband, and son reside in the North Center neighborhood, where they enjoy frequenting their favorite local restaurants and taking in the arts and culture across Chicago's beautiful array of neighborhoods.
The Driehaus Foundation Arts and Culture program supports the business side of the arts, focusing on funding work that sustains and advances Chicago’s arts infrastructure, helping enable creative endeavors to thrive. Driehaus provides general operating support grants to organizations with arts service missions and provides restricted grants for arts service projects and programs embedded in arts nonprofit organizations. The Foundation defines art service as specialized support designed to build the business acumen, management capacity, and backbone structures of the arts ecosystem. Support ranges from behind-the-scenes assistance such as management consultation, administrative training, and resource sharing to business models such as festivals and shared venues that provide exposure, revenue generating opportunities, and cost savings.
Founded in 1983 by legendary investor and philanthropist Richard H. Driehaus (1942–2021), the Foundation has enriched the lives of Chicagoans for more than four decades. With its expanded scale and bold vision for the future, the Driehaus Foundation is poised to have even greater impact.
